Current Research

My expertise is in the etiology
and epidemiology of pathogens and diseases of commercially important
fish and shellfish. I've worked on a number of issues, but lately my research
has been on the
epidemiology of protozoal infections in blue crabs, the etiology and impact of
epizootic shell disease on lobsters, and idiopathic blindness in lobsters. I've
also published extensively on PaV1 infections in spiny lobsters, issues
surrounding the alleged toxicity of Pfiesteria, and the etiology of
diseases in other marine systems.

I am an invertebrate zoologist and parasitologist by training and have
worked on numerous disease systems. For example, I've described 15-16 species from
five Kingdoms, including a virus, a bacterium, a fungus, 2 dinoflagellates, a cestode, 6
nemerteans and 3 isopods; and I have published several papers on fungal
pathogens as well.However, my main interests are in the ecological associations
between marine hosts and their pathogens, particularly aspects of disease
etiology and transmission, and the impact of diseases on marine populations (Shields
2012, 2013, 2017).

Most of my research has been on
the diseases of crustaceans. This has included the first reported
pathogenic virus from a lobster (Shields & Behringer 2004), the first report
of healthy animals being able to detect and avoid diseased ones (Behringer et
al. 2006), epidemiological studies on Hematodinium
infections in crustaceans (e.g., Shields et al. 2005, 2007), and the effects of egg predators on crab
populations (e.g., Shields & Segonzac 2007). My work on species of Hematodinium,
which are parasitic dinoflagellates in crustaceans, has uncovered many aspects
of these parasites, including new insights into their transmission,
disease-induced mortalities to the fisheries, hematological and other host
factors in the disease, the pathophysiology of infection, development of
diagnostics, taxonomy and basic culture and life cycle studies. Most of our
recent work on Hematodinium has been examining aspects of its transmission to
blue crabs in the hyper-endemic bays of the region (Shields et al. 2017,
Huchin-Mian et al. 2017, 2018). We've also been publishing on epizootic shell
disease (Barris et al. in press, Groner et al. in press, Hoenig et al. 2017) and
on idiopathic blindness in lobsters (Shields et al. 2012, Ochs et al. 2018).

POTENTIAL STUDENTS
Students interested in working with me should contact me directly before
applying to VIMS. I must have grant funds in place to pay for students;
and this is the single largest factor in deciding whether I can take additional
students. Other factors are the GRE scores, as well as a solid GPA and great letters. I also look at whether
students have research experience as an undergraduate and whether their
interests match mine. Students should have taken courses in microbiology, parasitology, invertebrate zoology, ecology,
or marine ecology, or related fields. I also highly recommend that you interview
at VIMS or skype with me prior to applying for graduate school here. Many faculty won't take
students without an interview so plan for one if you're serious about grad
school. .